Mercury rises but chill persists in parts of Himachal

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Last Updated: Sun, Feb 10, 2013 12:40 hrs

Shimla, Feb 10 (IANS) The hills of Himachal Pradesh Sunday saw a marginal rise in the mercury owing to the dry weather conditions but temperatures still remained below freezing in many areas of the state.

"It was another bright and sunny day across the state Sunday," an official of the Met Office here told IANS. He added that Keylong, district headquarters town of Lahaul and Spiti, was the coldest in the state at a minimum temperature of -11.1 degrees Celsius.

Kalpa in Kinnaur district saw a low of -8.6 degrees, while the minimum temperature was -2.4 degrees in Manali and 8.2 degrees Celsius in Dharamsala.

The minimum temperature in the state capital Shimla was 4.6 degrees, while the maximum was 16.5 degrees Celsius.

Snow could still be seen in certain areas of Shimla like the Mall Road, the ridge, the US Club and Jakhu hills after last week's snowfall.

Areas near Shimla like Kufri and Narkanda and popular tourist resort of Manali are also covered under a thick blanket of snow.

The Met Office said the weather would be mainly dry in the state till Wednesday.